The Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments

Lisa Braver Moss

Presented at The Second International Symposium on Circumcision,
San Francisco, California, April 30-May 3, 1991.

Abstract:

Can a Jewish argument against circumcision
be made? Lisa Braver Moss traces the Jewish origins of current concerns
about circumcision and proposes that a carefully considered decision
against circumcision can be reconciled within Jewish tradition.
Physicians and midwives can facilitate this reconciliation by encouraging
their Jewish clients to engage rabbis and other fellow Jews in fresh
dialogue about the rite. Might Judaism by compromised by such a
dialogue? Quite the contrary. Judaism can only benefit from it.
Moss tells how her own inquiry into brit milah strengthened her
Jewish identity and commitment.

I am going to
begin by reading selected passages from Genesis, chapter 17.

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine,
the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty
God; walk in my ways and be blameless. I will establish my covenant
between me and you and I will make you exceedingly numerous. And
you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham
and I make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make
you exceedingly fertile and make nations of you and kings shall
come forth from you. I will maintain my covenant between me and
you to be God to you and your offspring to come. I assign the
land you sojourn in to you and to your offspring to come, all
the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding; I will be their
God.

&nbsp God further said to Abraham:

As for you, you and your offspring to come throughout
the ages shall keep my covenant. Such shall be the covenant between
me and you and your offspring to follow, which you shall keep:
Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise
the flesh of your foreskin and that shall be the sign of the covenant
between me and you. And throughout the generations every male
among you shall be circumcised at the age of eight days. Thus
shall my covenant be marked in your flesh as an everlasting pact.
And if any male who is uncircumcised fails to circumcise the flesh
of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his kin. He
has broken my covenant.

I am a Jew and
I question circumcision. I have been questioning circumcision ever
since I learned of the rite as a girl. At that time I questioned circumcision
because it seemed wrong to cause pain to infants and because it seemed
strange to surgically alter a healthy God-given part of the body.
As I grew into adulthood I added questions. I continue to add them.
I question circumcision because of its risks. I question it because
it is seen by many as a perfunctory act rather than a spiritual one.
I question it because it seems to require parents to take advantage
of their infant's dependence and weakness. I also question it because
of the paradox that those who support infant circumcision often cringe
at the idea of circumcision of an older child as a puberty rite. I
am sure all of these concerns are familiar to health professionals,
who also question circumcision.

During the last
several years I have explored the topic of circumcision as a writer
and as a Jew. I have two circumcised sons, ages five and two. I have
written a couple of articles on brit milah, or the covenant of circumcision,
for Jewish magazines. The first was published in Tikkun magazine
in September of last year and my other one will appear later this
year in Midstream magazine. My inquiry into brit milah has
convinced me that every one of my concerns about the rite is rooted
not just in my own personal world view, but in Judaism itself.

Let us return
to the concerns mentioned above, starting with pain. According to
Jewish law, it is forbidden to cause tsa'ar ba'alei chaim, or pain
of living things. Even the necessary causing of pain is considered
cruel in Judaism. Jewish law even prohibits the pairing up of a small
and a large animal for plowing in case the asymmetry causes the littler
one discomfort. Clearly, concern over the pain of others has strong
Judaic roots.

What about the
concern that circumcision involves the surgical alteration of a perfectly
natural God-given part of the body? This concern, too, stems from
Jewish thought. Westerners generally find the bodily mutilation practiced
in other cultures to be deeply distasteful. This distaste is based
on the Hebrew bible's denouncement of pagan practices such as tattooing
and cutting the flesh.

There is also
the risk of serious complications, and even death, from circumcision.
No matter how small these risks are, they must be considered. Now,
even this concern is an echo of Jewish law. Judaism regards life as
infinitely sacred and gives it precedence over all else. Accordingly,
Jewish law tells us that any medical procedure involving even the
possibility of risk to life must be viewed as dangerous and is, therefore,
strictly forbidden. Thus, the risk of circumcision is not just a medical
concern, but a Jewish one.

My concern that
many see brit milah as a perfunctory act rather than as a spiritual
one is also a Jewish concern. This is a thorny point of Jewish law,
but I will try to summarize the issues. Judaism stresses deeds more
than faith. So, according to Jewish law, one should perform the commandments,
of which circumcision is one, even if the act does not reflect one's
spiritual beliefs. Yet there is also a Jewish law requiring that one
perform every commandment with one's whole heart, with spiritual intent,
or kavana. So although Jewish law supports circumcision even when
it is done without a broader commitment to Judaism, or God, there
is also Jewish reason to find it unsettling when this happens.

Also mentioned
above was the concern that circumcision requires parents to take advantage
of their infant's helplessness. Even the concept, that we have a moral
obligation to protect those who cannot protect themselves, is a Jewish
concept. Additionally, the idea of treating others as you yourself
would like to be treated is a Jewish one. According to Jewish lore,
the legendary Rabbi Hillel was once asked to summarize Judaism while
standing on one leg. Hillel replied: "What is hateful to you, do not
do to your fellow creature."

Finally, there
is a slightly more esoteric concern. I question infant circumcision
because it seems to me that a person's age should not affect our attitude
towards his suffering. In other words, if we find the circumcision
of older children offensive, we should find infant circumcision equally
offensive. The most significant reason we as a society continue to
practice infant circumcision, both medically and ritually, is that
we do not respond to the suffering of infants in the same way we respond
to the suffering of older children and adults. As parents our connection
with our newborns is a very tenuous one, however strong it may feel
when we first hold our little one and look into his or her eyes. The
tenuousness of the bond only becomes apparent when we compare it to
our bond with our older children. I personally could not subject my
five-year old, or my two-year-old, to circumcision now for any reason
other than absolute life or death necessity. This is not to say that
it was easy for me to do at their birth, only that it would be impossible
now. It is precisely this phenomenon that the advocates of routine
neonatal circumcision are articulating when they advise parents to
get it over with now because if one were to wait until the baby were
older one would never do it. There is a way in which our infants are
strangers to us as compared to our older children.

How would Judaism
view this premise? If we do think of our infants as strangers on some
level, and if our treatment of them is less humane because of it,
Judaism disapproves. The commandment to love the stranger and not
to oppress him appears not once, but 36 times, in the Torah (The Torah
is the written text that forms the foundation of all Jewish law and
thought). If we ask whether it is ethical to subject an infant to
brit milah, when we would not subject an older child to the same ritual,
we are asking a Jewish question.

All of the concerns
outlined here, pain, surgical alteration of the body, medical risk,
lack of spiritual conviction, taking advantage of helplessness, and
oppressing a stranger, stem from Jewish concepts. This does not mean
that circumcision is an un-Jewish thing to do. Whether or not it conflicts
with other Jewish principles, circumcision is still considered a quintessential
Jewish act, a symbol of the covenant between God and the Jewish people
and a primary emblem of Jewish identity. The point is that concerns
about circumcision are also Jewish. Thus, a decision not to circumcise
an infant, but to observe the covenant through a symbolic ceremony
instead of a traditional one, can also be a Jewish decision.

Thousands of
Jews today are questioning circumcision. Some are deciding not to
circumcise their infant sons. By my estimates, American rabbis are
getting at least 3,000 calls every year from parents who are in conflict
about the rite. The parents who contact rabbis because they find brit
milah problematic, are often requesting symbolic ceremonies as an
alternative to traditional brit milah. They believe the covenant need
not be established through a literal biblical interpretation. They
voice concerns about circumcision that invariably stem from Jewish
thinking. In addition to those parents who contact rabbis about their
conflict, others are making the decision not to circumcise without
contacting a rabbi. For this reason rabbis may not be aware how common
it is for Jewish parents to question this ritual.

Rabbis these
days are already performing symbolic covenant ceremonies for baby
girls. While some rabbis are willing to perform such ceremonies for
boys, these rabbis are still few and far between and prefer to remain
anonymous. There is a grassroots Jewish group that distributes texts
for symbolic ceremonies and provides support for parents who question
brit milah. However, the questioning parents are still having to forfeit
a rabbi-officiated ceremony because of their convictions. I am hoping
that more rabbis will begin to offer symbolic ceremonies to boys,
as well as to girls, and I will talk more later about how this might
happen.

Because my research
process has been quite an adventure, allow me now to explain how I
arrived at the ideas I have summarized here. The early drafts of my
writing about circumcision, before I had done much Jewish research,
were very vehemently anti-circumcision. Underneath my vehemence was
an intense feeling of guilt about agreeing to have my own sons circumcised,
even though I had always found circumcision disturbing. My purpose
in writing these early drafts was to shake people into thinking. If
they became angry in the process, I figured it was a sign of their
irrationality. Gradually, I began wanting to talk about my feelings
in a way that would open peoples' minds rather than closing them.
Gradually, I started looking to Judaism to deepen my inquiry, and
gradually from within this inquiry I began to come to terms with my
own experience of the rite. I began going to Jewish studies classes
at my synagogue, reading about Judaism and pursuing various research
paths about circumcision at the Jewish community library. I ran my
new ideas past the rabbis at my synagogue, and from other branches
of Judaism, to make sure my perceptions of Jewish law and history
were sound.

In this way
a dialogue was begun between rabbis and myself. My older son was attending
the nursery school at my synagogue and I needed feedback from Jewish
peers about the articles I was writing, so I began bouncing new ideas
off my fellow parents at the nursery school as well. Many of the people
in my life were surprised at my desire to question circumcision within
a Jewish context. Yet, everyone with whom I have discussed my thoughts
has been incredibly helpful in one way or another. Those who disagreed
with me the most vehemently sometimes offered me the best insights
and were sometimes the most gentle on my writer's ego, and those who
thought I was onto something were occasionally my harshest critics.
In the process of sharing my ideas, however, seeking feedback and
refining my writings in a Jewish context, something unexpected began
to happen. I began to feel connected as a Jew in a way I never had
before. I began to experience for the first time in my life a sense
of Jewish community. I found myself signing up to study Hebrew and
learning the Sabbath blessings and prayers and preparing for my adult
bar mitzvah ceremony, which was held last June. I found myself celebrating
the Sabbath and attending services and sharing what I was learning
of Judaism with my boys. I was getting a Jewish education for the
first time, and I continue to pursue my interest in Judaism. I take
my own Jewish heritage much more seriously now than I did before I
began this inquiry.

How can health
professionals respond to the needs of Jewish clients about the issue
of Jewish circumcision? Surely everyone recognizes the importance
of being sensitive and respectful. Outside the context of Judaism,
however, it may be tempting to view the issue as a black-and-white
question of human rights. To Jews it remains highly complex. What
is the health professional to do? First of all, I would strongly discourage
any health professional from attempting a Jewish discussion of circumcision
unless he or she is also Jewish and/or deeply committed to studying
the topic in depth beforehand. From the outside, it is nearly impossible
to understand the complexities of this ritual and the pressures on
Jewish parents regarding circumcision. This applies even for those
Jews who are largely nonobservant and even for those who openly question
circumcision. Sometimes out of respect for Judaism one must refrain
from speaking one's mind about a topic one feels strongly about. Of
course, if Jewish parents want access to medical information regarding
circumcision, it is the job of health care professionals to provide
such information. In the event they feel circumcision is wrong medically,
they have an obligation to say so. Although I have shared some of
my Jewish inquiry about brit milah, let me stress once more that I
would not recommend engaging in a Jewish dialogue with Jewish clients
unless the health care professional is also Jewish and has an interest
in the topic from a Judaic point of view. This dialogue is a Jewish
one. I have shared it to demonstrate that the questions are all right
there in Judaism itself. I believe the answers lie there too.

How might one
handle Jewish clients who have decided to circumcise their infant
for religious reasons? I would urge one not to become involved in
this decision, either explicitly or by showing tacit disapproval,
with one exception: If the clients cannot decide whether to do the
circumcision in the hospital without ceremony, or on the eighth day
with ceremony, I feel they should be encouraged to do the latter.
Technically, a hospital circumcision without ceremony is not recognized
as a Jewish circumcision. But beyond this technicality, as long as
the parents have decided to circumcise their son because they are
Jewish, a religious ceremony makes infinitely more sense than a sterile
hospital circumcision.

How might Jewish
clients who express concerns about circumcision be approached? This,
too, requires the utmost sensitivity. Jewish clients should be encouraged
to include rabbis and even mohels, who are ritual circumcisers, in
their thoughts about the topic. How will Jewish leaders become aware
of the scope of Jewish concern about circumcision unless they are
consulted by parents? Jewish clients can call a rabbi and make an
appointment to talk just as they would make an appointment to interview
a pediatrician. They do not have to belong to a congregation to do
so. This is not to suggest that Jewish parents will all have the time
or inclination to turn their concern about brit milah into a major
Jewish inquiry. They can, however, accomplish a lot by making their
conflicts known to Jewish leaders, family and peers. Beyond this,
in helping to create a Jewish dialogue about circumcision, they deepen
their sense of their own Jewishness and give of themselves to Judaism.

Many Jews questioning
circumcision will assume that their questions will not be well-received
by mainstream Judaism. Unfortunately, Jewish leaders often reinforce
this assumption by glossing over the concerns that parents raise about
brit milah by trying to coax them into a traditional view of the rite.
This may be changing a little.

The liberal
branch of Judaism known as the Reform Movement has, in recent years,
set up its own brit milah board and has instituted a program to certify
physicians as Reform mohels. Unlike Orthodox mohels, these Reform
mohels, being physicians, can administer local anesthesia and provide
medical expertise, which some parents want. Of course, the certifying
board, called the Brit Milah Board of Reform Judaism, believes strongly
in a traditional interpretation of brit milah. They are, however beginning
to include alternate viewpoints as part of their training class so
that mohels can be sensitive to parents' conflicts about the rite.
Just a week and a half ago, I gave a presentation at the local training
class in which I discussed the need for convenantal ceremonies that
do not include circumcision, and proposed that a mohel should not
downplay parents' concerns or talk parents into a traditional interpretation
if they express doubts about it. I have been invited to submit a chapter
discussing my views for the next edition of the textbook for the training
course. Reform Judaism certainly does not endorse a nontraditional
view of brit milah, yet its Brit Milah Board has demonstrated a commitment
to Jewish dialogue about the rite that includes nontraditional thinking.

There is one
final point to be made about Jewish parents questioning circumcision.
Some are limiting the scope of their inquiry by seeking only secular
ammunition, medical arguments for example, against circumcision. By
restricting their inquiry in this way, they are fostering the illusion
that circumcision cannot be questioned from a Jewish point of view.
This amounts to a form of protection or indulgence of Judaism, as
if Judaism were a fragile relic, unable to function in light of new
information and insights. This is not an accurate picture of contemporary
Judaism. The beauty of Judaism is precisely its ability to reckon
with changes in understanding. Judaism is, as Rabbi Milton Steinberg
put it, an organism. Certainly, tradition keeps Judaism alive, but
so does inquiry, dialogue, and well-thought-out change.

Before closing
let me quote from the Jewish prayer book, Gates of Prayer.
This poem is an incredibly beautiful illustration of Judaism's love
of inquiry. This is a meditation called Doubt.

Cherish your doubts, for doubt is the handmaiden
of truth. Doubt is the key to the door of knowledge. It is the
servant of discovery. A belief which may not be questioned binds
us to error, for there is incompleteness and imperfection in every
belief. Doubt is the touchstone of truth. It is an acid which
eats away the false. Let none fear for the truth, that doubt may
consume it; for doubt is a testing of belief. For truth, if it
be truth, arises from each testing stronger, more secure. Those
who would silence doubt are filled with fear. The house of their
spirit is built on shifting sands. But they that fear not doubt,
and know its use, are founded on a rock. They shall walk in the
light of growing knowledge. The work of their hands shall endure.
Therefore, let us not fear doubt, but let us rejoice in its help;
it is to the wise as a staff to the blind. Doubt is the handmaiden
of truth.

I would like
to see a time when Jewish parents will be able to express their doubts
about brit milah openly within the Jewish community and I would like
Jewish parents to have the choice between observing brit milah traditionally
or bringing their son into the covenant symbolically in a ceremony
officiated by a rabbi. This will only come about from within Judaism
when Jewish parents' concerns about circumcision are recognized as
Jewish concerns. Whether Jewish clients of health care professionals
have made a decision to circumcise their son, have some conflicts
about it, or have decided categorically against it, they should be
encouraged to participate in a dialogue within the Jewish community.
Judaism needs their voices.

Biographical Notes

Lisa Braver Moss, B.A., a free-lance writer, received
her B.A. with Great Distinction from the University
of California at Berkeley (1977) Several of her articles questioning
the Jewish circumcision ritual., Brit Milah, have appeared in Jewish
publications, including "A Painful Case," an article focusing upon the
current circumcision debate, in Tikkun's
September/October 1990 bimonthly "Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture
& Society." She lives in San Francisco.